Mya Byrne on 'Autumn Sun,' trans visibility, Nashville's Artemis Fest

The general scope of singer-songwriter Mya Byrne's decade-long journey to greater renown reads like a story old as time:

A country and rock-adoring Greenwich Village folkie with beat poet roots discovers love for herself and others in San Francisco. Then, she brings that joy to Nashville via powerful, evocative songwriting that empowers generations of people surging past margins into a stunned, unprepared -- but eventually accepting -- mainstream.

Byrne plays the sophomore edition of Madison, Tennessee's Artemis Fest -- held on 47 acres of Ada Mae's Farm -- on October 8, 2022. The festival was co-founded by musician Steff Mahan and musician-turned-marketing and communications professional Cathey Stamps to "create meaningful change around artist diversity and inclusion and a shift to some of country and Americana," says Stamps to The Tennessean.

The San Francisco-based Byrne joins Mahan, African-American country legend Frankie Staton, and a lineup including Valerie Ellis Hawkins, Rachel Rodriguez, award-winning spoken word poet Minton Sparks, plus WSM DJ and author Devon O'Day serving as host, among those featured on the lineup.

Byrne's inclusion in their number follows a post-COVID quarantine career surge featuring playing the mandolin and lap steel on LaFemmeBear's 2021-released remix of Reba McEntire's single "I'm A Survivor." This has occurred alongside continuing her affiliation with Patrick Haggerty's groundbreaking queer country band Lavender Country, performing the theme song for Kelly Sutton's "Country Heat" podcast on Amazon Country, and being named a 2022 "Artist to Watch" by the Nashville Scene.

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This acclaim has led to her being announced as the first signee to the vaunted, three-decade-old independent label Kill Rock Stars' new Nashville subsidiary. Her first release via the label is "Autumn Sun," produced and recorded by Music City Americana favorite Aaron Lee Tasjan.

As a self-professed leader for the presence of queer trans women in country and Americana music, Byrne was initially concerned with being first and foremost presented as a singer-songwriter -- regardless of gender or identity -- whose work can meet the standard of a label whose primarily alternative and punk history includes Bikini Kill, Gossip, The Melvins, Nirvana, Sleater-Kinney, and more.

"They reached out to me and more than anything, their label made me feel worth in myself and my music," Byrne says. Kill Rock Stars' history of standing behind and with the art made by queer women influenced Byrne's decision to sign with the label, she tells The Tennessean on a balmy Wednesday afternoon in East Nashville during Americana Fest. "They have assured me -- in word and deed, and not by throwing a bunch of money at stuff -- that they refuse to tokenize who I am and what I create."

"I've been pushing so hard for so long, and I'm finally at a place where I can sleep without worrying too much about my career," Byrne says. Via "Autumn Sun," that relaxation yields a release highlighting her most personal influences.

She describes the strange, universal feeling of emerging from the psychological pain and healing of California's wildfires and COVID-19's quarantine as appearing in poetic lyrics, including "time to love what you have sown / embrace what you disown / Seasons are changing / and we all go changing along."

Though Byrne typically never writes while holding an instrument, she's also a New York City native and multi-instrumentalist who can recite the names of every Brill Building songwriter by memory and grew up from the age of five listening to 45 BPM Capitol, Columbia, and Colgems (the label primarily responsible for The Monkees' releases) Records releases of the 1960s. Thus, iconic rhythms and melodies serve as an ever-present inspiration.

"'Autumn Sun' is all about me subconsciously remembering the feeling of hearing The Byrds' 'Mr. Tambourine Man' for the first time on my Fisher Price record player," Byrne says. "I'm lyrics-first, and then I figure out the chords around them. But [on "Autumn Sun"], I already had the changes, melody, and guitar riff playing in my head."

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Her musical and writing roots include time spent at the Berklee College of Music and City, University of London, plus having played with the likes of The Band's Levon Helm. Also, she counts influential, Greenwich Village-based global folk artist Jack Hardy (who passed away in 2011) as a writing and performing mentor.

"Jack always taught me to put the lyrics and melody first," Byrne says. She compares her talent in this regard to two other lofty inspirations: Folk-rock icons Odetta and Richie Havens.

"I'm an interpreter of lyrics who tries to capture the energy they give me in song. So if there's anything of that New York and folk background that I'm bringing to Nashville, it's being able to encapsulate my life's influences -- and the way that other's life stories make me feel -- into a coalesced whole."

"Autumn Sun" immediate acclaim by outlets including Rolling Stone has finally afforded Byrne awareness by country performers including Mickey Guyton and beloved Americana stars Brandi Carlile and Allison Russell. Her blossoming moment of increased renown emerges as hopeful empowerment regarding her following career goals:

"Along with having increased trans representation at events like Artemis Fest, I want to be on the radio. Existing in a way where I'm more confident and that I'll be more visible allows me to feel like I'll be able to keep more trans people alive or helping create a world where people in my chosen family can exist comfortably. That's important. Also, that kind of access allows me to be a part of revolutionary conversations about expanding expectations of American life."

Mya Byrne will appear at ArtemisFest 2022, held on October 8 at Ada Mae’s Farm in Madison, TN. For more information on this year’s event -- including artists and tickets -- visit https://artemisfest.com/.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mya Byrne on 'Autumn Sun,' trans visibility, Nashville's Artemis Fest